WHY POLITICAL POLARITY?

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In the political polarity of America today, neither side trusts the other, Left or Right, thus making it impossible to compromise or reason together, leaving us with more than just a Congress in gridlock, but the whole country as well. The two perspectives of America are truly incompatible and requires some explanation.

Liberals are at a complete loss as to why anyone would support President Trump. As one reader recently wrote to me, “I want to know if any of the crimes Trump is alleged to have committed, the factual information coming forth, the involvement of his family and the blatant lies he told and continues to tell has any bearing on your unwavering support of the man?”

Conversely, conservatives do not understand why others do not support the President. As another reader wrote, “The American voters that voted for the Communist Democrats are the traitors to our country, and the rest of us true Americans.”

The polarity of the two sides is such that neither understands the other, nor cares to.

As another example, on December 11th (2018), President Trump and Vice President Pence met with Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer in the White House to discuss a Congressional spending bill to include $5 billion in funding to accelerate building of the southern wall. Both Mrs. Pelosi and Mr. Schumer steadfastly refused to agree to it in front of television cameras. In fact, they felt awkward discussing it in such a venue. The President made it clear he would unashamedly close the federal government if he doesn’t get the money to tighten border security. The Democrats tried to browbeat the President by making the point that Mr. Trump would be solely responsible for the shutdown, not the Democrats. The President readily conceded the point with the caveat he would be doing so to protect our border and the citizens of this country, something his Congressional opponents are not willing to do.

Afterwards, Republicans applauded the president’s handling of the meeting by seeking “transparency” in front of the cameras, something the Democrats obviously felt uncomfortable doing. The Right saw the president on top of his game and outfoxed his opponents as any other businessman would do.

Liberals didn’t see it this way. Instead, the President was characterized as a bully throwing an indignant temper tantrum. His character and intelligence was again questioned, and he was described as a megalomaniac, as well as all the other usual derogatory adjectives du jour.

Democrats are quick to accuse the President of improprieties resulting from the Mueller investigation, regardless if it is true or not. Republicans see the investigation as a frivolous political distraction since nothing of substance has yet to be produced. Democrats want the investigation to continue unabated for as long as possible. Republicans have had enough and want it shut down.

Again, both sides simply do not understand the position of the other, nor wants to.

So, why the difference?

First, Democrats are more inclined to accept the news emanating from the media. Regardless if it is right or wrong, it is embraced as unbiased and factual, and is parroted as such, except that resulting from Fox News which is perceived as fallacious. The Republicans, on the other hand, are more skeptical and do not trust the news media at all, least of all print journalism, which is all perceived as an organ of the Democrats, certainly not fair and balanced. They believe the media is following a political agenda, which involves spinning the news, not accurately reporting it. Consequently, the only news they believe in is that which they see or hear themselves first-hand.

Second, Democrats have become past masters of Identity Politics. If you do not agree with their position on an issue, you are vilified as either a racist, xenophobe, homophobe, Fascist, or just not smart enough to understand what is really happening in the world. In turn, Republicans see their opposites as anti-patriotic anarchists bent on destroying the country. They consider the members of the Left as the true racists who will cheat at all costs to win an election.

And third, the platforms of Left and Right are as different as night and day. Ultimately, it is based on our interpretation of morality; what is right and what is wrong:

Yes, our differences are based on our fundamental belief of morality; always has been. As fervently strong as Democrats believe in their interpretation of America, Republicans feel equally strong. Neither side is willing to acknowledge they are wrong, nor apologize for it; they are absolutely convinced they are correct, not their opposition. This belief in right versus wrong explains why there can never be any compromise.

It is this fundamental sense of morality which is responsible for the irresistible force versus immovable object in American culture today, as well as in the world. Unless one side conquers the other, we will have gridlock for many more years to come, assuming we do not kill ourselves first.

Just remember, in a contest of stubbornness, man will beat the jackass every time.

Keep the Faith!

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Tim Bryce is a writer and the Managing Director of M&JB Investment Company (M&JB) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 40 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb1557@gmail.com

“We already know what he is stating…obviously so. The point is that many of us have awakened to the knowledge of the Uniparty, the corrupt establishment politicians who view us as the peasantry to be manipulated… that the last 4 presidents have worked towards the globalist agenda backed by the most powerful elitist families who care only for power and wealth as well as the enslavement of mankind to be ruled as cattle. If many only knew how evil these ones are.”

“My friend you always pick fun topics 🙂 I agree that both sides don’t see at times to understand each other. Let me take a moment to push back ito some of what you wrote in your column.

1. Liberals are at a loss as to why anyone would support President Trump. – Since a number of my family member supported Trump for president I get why. For years some people in this country felt like they were being forgotten by both parties. Trump was wise to court these voters and seek to help them by giving them a voice.

So, yes Trump is neither stupid or unable to read what some key voters want in a leader. In my case, while he is not someone I feel understands how big government works, he is the president and I always respect the office.

Do I respect the Mueller probe? Yes, not because of what it means about Trump, but I think it is important to know if they used people around the president to disrupt the process. I have always said this not about the president it is about how the Russians tried to game our elections. Again, for the record, I think Trump was elected fairly,
as Marco Rubio said we must make sure that the Russians stay out of our elections.

2. December 11th meeting with “Chuck and Nancy.” – Let me be clear that President Trump does not have the votes to get what he wants from the Republican-led House to get the $5 billion for the wall. Speaker of the Houe Paul Ryan pointed that out a number of times as the budget bill was being crafted in the final days of the regular legislative session. The Democrats and Republicans were willing to pass a broader security bill that allowed for nearly $2 billion. Trump used the forum to lay a marker down to get his wall, it was a wise political move to blame “Chuck and Nancy,” but make no mistake that was aimed as much at both Speaker Ryan and Mitch McConnell both who have problems in their own ranks to push a wall both chambers.

Another item is Border Security. I have ALWAYS supported having secure borders. Most Democrats I know support them and having lived in both Texas and San Diego.I know first hand how important that it is. But the boarder can only really secure when we have comprehensive immigration reform. That will take something that leaders of both parties have been unwilling to do. LEGISLATE !!!!!

I know that there are members of both party’s willing to tackle the important issues of the day but leadership wants them to stay away from bipartisanship because it hurts both the Republican and Democratic brands. That is crazy from both sides!

The Republican Party is not as right as the Freedom Caucus wants them to be and the Democrats are not as far left as Bernie Sander and Sen. Warren is. I don’t think a single-payer health care system is wise, yes I think that we can have some much needed social programs while still being fiscally responsible.

The best way to govern is to together and tackle the problems we face. Soon the Supreme Court will overturn the Texas ruling on the ACA and again Justice Roberts will cast the deciding vote – he will find a way “to not legislate from the bench, something he has done in the past.”

Just like immigration reform, the ACA 2.0 can be fixed to work there is a bill right now that has 60 votes in the Senate that was crafted by Sen. Lemar Alexander Republican of Tennessee and Senator Patty Murray Democrat of the state of Washington. It is a good place to start working on healthcare reform.

Two final quick points I am a person of faith and was raised in a family that was brought up in the church and the synagogue. My family built the Methodist Church that she attends each week and my brothers and their families attend church each week as well as being part of their religious communities. I attend shull every week – as I did with my late father.

My late father was a capitalist, as are my two brothers who both followed in my dad’s footsteps, as proud graduates of the MBA program at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. I was the black sheep of the family working in broadcasting where my job was not only to create programming but to make sure we could sell it.

So, I will make you a deal – I won’t generalize about the GOP and President Trump if you won’t see all Liberal and Democrats as Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

Tim, I think that we have our differences but IF we really took the time to try to understand where each side is really coming from that we could work togther. Stay away from the far left and right — work from the middle where the rest of the world live.

Have a Merry Christmas and hope you and your family have a happy and healthy new year!